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'Personal statement': BJP distances itself from Pragya Thakur's comments on 26/11 martyr Karkare

Pragya Had Said Karkare Died During The 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks As She Cursed Him For Torturing Her.

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Abhinav Gupta | Updated on: 19 Apr 2019, 07:18:03 PM
Pragya Singh Thakur (File Photo)

New Delhi:

The BJP on Friday distanced itself from party’s Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate Pragya Singh Thakur’s remarks that former Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare died during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks as she "cursed" him for torturing her.

Releasing statement, the party said it considers Karkare a martyr and that Pragya might have given statement because of the “mental and physical torture she had faced.”

“BJP considers him a martyr. This is Sadhvi Pragya's personal statement which she might have given because of the mental and physical torture she had faced,” the statement read.

The Congress had demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise to the country and take action against Pragya Thakur. Party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the remark was an insult to every soldier who has sacrificed his life for the country while fighting terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission took cognisance of the incident and filed a complaint against the BJP leader.   

Addressing a gathering of BJP workers on Thursday, Thakur said Karkare committed an anti-national act by falsely implicating her in the Malegaon blast case and keeping her behind bars without evidence.

"It was treason. It was against religion," she said.

Thakur alleged that she was tortured during her detention and she had cursed him.

"He tortured me and subjected me to harsh abuse which was unbearable. I told him he will be destroyed. A little over a month later 'sutak' (ritual observed after death of a family member) was going to start...Just over a month later, he was shot dead by terrorists and the inauspicious period ended," she said.

Pragya Singh Thakur is an accused in the Malegaon terror blast case.

Hemant Karkare, a former Mumbai Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) chief, died fighting terrorists during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. He was also leading the probe into the Malegaon attack.

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First Published : 19 Apr 2019, 05:54:11 PM

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